On Monday, the Supreme Court drew a clear line on the role of Aadhaar in voter registration, rejecting demands to treat it as the sole proof of citizenship for the Bihar voter list prepared under the special intensive revision (SIR). The Court emphasised that Aadhaar’s legal purpose is limited to identity verification and cannot be elevated to confer citizenship rights.
The Division Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, which had earlier allowed Aadhaar to be used alongside other documents for voter enrolment, clarified that "Aadhaar will be one of the documents for verification." The Court refused to direct the Election Commission (EC) to accept it as the exclusive proof of citizenship.
The RJD counsel Prashant Bhushan pointed out that the EC had not accepted Aadhaar for over 65 lakh names removed from the draft voter list, despite earlier court orders. Responding to this, the Bench said, "We cannot enhance the status of Aadhaar beyond what is ascribed to it by the Aadhaar Act. We can also not go beyond what was said by a five-judge bench in Puttaswamy judgment while upholding Aadhaar."
The Court relied on Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act, which states, "The Aadhaar number or the authentication thereof shall not, by itself, confer any right of, or be proof of, citizenship or domicile in respect of an Aadhaar number holder." It also referred to the 2018 Puttaswamy judgment, where a Five-Judge Bench had observed, "An Aadhaar number also does not, by itself, constitute a conferment of a right of citizenship, or domicile."
The Court questioned the heavy reliance on Aadhaar by political parties, asking, "Why is there so much of emphasis on Aadhaar? We will not pass an order that Aadhaar is the final proof of citizenship." Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the EC, pointed to districts in Bihar where Aadhaar saturation had crossed 140%, highlighting concerns of inflated or bogus identity cards. The Centre also noted that illegal migrants, including some Rohingyas, had obtained Aadhaar in certain states.
The Court suggested a practical solution, urging parties to mobilize grassroots workers and booth-level agents to identify individuals wrongly deleted from the draft voter list and assist them in filing claims with the EC to ensure inclusion in the final list.
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